By: Lime Green Giraffe Event Co-Director, Lillabeth
B.
While there are many, many enjoyable
aspects of theater, such as rehearsals, friendships with cast members,
performance, and praise, none of these are available without the stress and
disappointment one will undoubtedly experience when auditioning. The anxiety
sparked from performing without an ensemble, and in such an intimate setting,
with the knowledge that one must prove oneself, can seem overwhelming and often
insurmountable. However, with the proper preparation and mindset, nailing your
audition will be not only achievable but guaranteed. Here are some important
ideas to keep in mind.
1. No matter how well your auditions go, you will not get
every part you audition for. You might not have the right look or voice for the
part, you might be too young or old, or someone with more training or who the
creative team is more familiar with may audition for the role.
2. Even if you don’t get the part, the important thing is to
make an impression. If the casting director remembers you, he may ask you to
audition for another role later on.
3. The ideal audition does not come easily. It will require
your time, commitment, and hard work.
4. The best way to develop your auditioning skills is to
audition for as many roles as possible. Familiarize yourself with a variety of
auditioning environments—casual, professional, all the shades in between—at
various talent levels, and practice preparing for different characters to
expand your expertise.
5. Constantly train to improve your skills. The more developed
your skill set becomes, the more talent you’ll be able to showcase to the
creative team.
Here
is some audition vocabulary that you should learn:
Side:
A passage from the script you’ll be asked to perform. You may be paired with another
actor and asked to perform the scene with him or her, or the creative team may
have someone who is not auditioning read the script with you.
Cold
read: Reading a side without seeing it beforehand.
Audition
book: A binder filled with sheet music for songs to be used in auditions. A professional
actor will have one. If the creative team has hired an accompanist, it’s important
to have the sheet music for the song you want to sing.
Bar:
A measure in sheet music.
Bar
cut: A selection of bars from a song in chronological order.
Soprano:
A female in a choir who can sing high notes but can’t sing low notes as easily.
Alto:
A female in a choir who can reach lower notes but cannot easily sing high
notes.
Tenor:
A male in a choir with who reaches higher notes but can’t sing low notes.
Baritone:
A male in a choir who sings lower notes but not very high notes.
Bass:
A male in a choir who can sing very low but not very high.
Dynamic:
How loud or soft parts of a song are. Dynamics can help to convey emotion.
Subtext:
The meaning of text beyond the words themselves created by the scenario in
which and the tone with which they are spoken.
Arc:
An internal change in the character affecting their perspective and goals.
When you find out you’ll be auditioning for a role, first learn what will be
required of you. Nothing is more important. Few things are more embarrassing
than showing up to an audition to find you should have memorized lines or
learned a song. If these requirements are in an email, read through all the
text carefully and write down what you’ll need so you don’t forget anything.
If you’ve
been asked to memorize lines, begin doing so immediately. The sooner you
memorize your lines, the sooner you can start thinking about them in relation
to the scene and your character, allowing you to act out the scene from a much
deeper emotional level. Simply reading the side several times is not enough for
most actors, so find a private space and say your lines aloud. If you have a
smart device, record yourself saying the other lines in the scene, and leave a
pause where your lines are; always leave more time than you think you’d need.
Then play the recording, saying your lines in the gaps.
Similarly, if you’ve been asked to sing a song, begin learning it
immediately. If possible, do so from sheet music instead of by ear from a
track. The creative team will be looking for something different, and it’s
difficult to be unique when learning from a recording of someone else’s
interpretation. Buy a cheap keyboard and learn the rhythm and notes from the
sheet music. If you can’t read music, buy a music theory workbook or learn
through the Internet.
If you haven’t been assigned a song to sing and have been asked to
select one, choose a song that fits the role and the style of the musical. For
example, don’t pick a comic song for a dramatic character, or a pop song for a
classic musical. Most auditions call for a 16 or 32 bar cut from a song, so it’s
important to develop a varied audition book to suit any type of character you’d
play. Preferably, your cut should be able to stand on its own, and its ending
should feel definite. If possible, your cut should have an arc of some sort to
show depth and range. Try to choose a song that’s in the vocal register of the
character. For example, if the character sings more in an alto range, you’d
want to choose a song with more low notes than high notes to show the creative
team that you can sing the notes the character sings.
Next, find the script. In this age
of technology, most scripts can be found with a search on Google. If it’s unavailable for free on the Internet, check it out from
the library. Read the script to get an idea of who the character is and how he
or she is feeling at the various points of the story. This is especially
important if you’ll be asked to do a cold read, as you will have seen the
material before and will know where it falls in the story. Read through the
script multiple times if this is the case, and think carefully about how you
would say those lines if you were playing that character.
Now comes the most important step;
practice. Put it all together and develop your character. Remember that your
song is essentially a monologue with pitch, so acting is just as important as
singing. On the same note, consider dynamic in the same way you would if you
were speaking. Maybe even find some words to speak instead of sing, to add
emotional depth.
In your sides, the way you say the
words is much more important than the words themselves. Think carefully about
not only what the lines themselves mean, but what they mean to the character.
What is your character trying to get across to your scene partner? More
importantly, what does your character want from him? If the side’s been emailed to you, print it out and write all over it,
writing the subtext of each line and underlining important words; the words you
choose to emphasize can change the entire meaning of a line. Even if you never
look at the side again, having thought intensely about each line and its
meaning will show in your performance.
Practice as much as you can so that
when the day of the audition arrives, you’ll
know you’ve done everything you could have done. Ask a friend or family member
to read your side with you, and sing your song over and over in the shower.
Make sure you’ve warmed up and sung through your cut before the audition, and
read over your song and your marked-up side right up until you’re called in for
your audition.
While the creative team will be
looking for talent, they’ll also be looking
for someone to work with, so before you enter the audition room, collect
yourself and put a smile on your face. When you walk in, be friendly. Ask how
the team is feeling, answer any questions they have without shyness or
reproach, and then get into character. They’ll remember you not only for your
talent, but also your attitude.
At some auditions, you’ll be paired with someone else or multiple people to read
your side. If those actors are less prepared than you or have a different
degree of talent than you do, it can be difficult to perform the side to the
best of your ability. However, try to be detached from that and see your scene
partners as their roles, not as themselves. Remember to stay in character even
when you aren’t saying your lines, and to pay attention constantly to what the
other characters are saying and doing. Treat your space like a stage, and move
as you think your character would.
When you’re singing, don’t look anyone watching you in the eye.
Doing so forces him to be your scene partner, often making him uncomfortable.
Pick a spot on the wall at the eye level of the creative team and sing to that
spot. Remember to pretend the wall is your scene partner, and react to his
expressions or movements as you would if he were standing there.
The goal is to have enjoyed the
audition, to feel you’ve done the best
you could have possibly done, and to leave the audition room with a smile on
your face. While feeling this way can also make rejection difficult, think of
it this way; if you didn’t get the part, it wasn’t meant to be. Keep training,
keep improving, keep practicing, and keep auditioning, and you’ll learn how to
always nail your audition.
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